Improvement in floating fire-engines



J. c ALAN.

Floating Fire-Engines..

` Patented Feb. 18,1873.

" 174222171, @man rUNITED STATES Flon.

PAT

JOHN O. LANG, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR OF THREE-FOURTHS HIS RIGHT TO PHILLIP B. FOUKE, OF NEW ORLEANS,

LOUISIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FLOATING FIRE-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 135,922, dated February 18, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. (l. LANG, of Washington clty, District of Columbia, have invented certain'mprovements in Vessels known as Floating Fire-Engines,of which the following is a specification My invention relates tothe construction of,

a pivoted gan gway to project from the bow of any boat used for the purposes of a lge-en gine and to reach the decks of a burning vessel without materially endangering the boat, of which the gan gway is a part, though said boat may not be constructed of hre-proof materials. For this purpose the gangway is made of iron, lightly and strongly built with a View to resist any lateral or downward strain. It is f1tted at its outward end with a hook or hooks for the purpose of laying hold of and drawing from the moorings either a burning vessel or one the safety of 'which may be endangered by the .too closeY proximity of burning or iniiammable matter.`

By reference to the drawing, which is a part of this specification, it will be seen that Figure l represents a side elevation of a boat embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation on line m x enlarged, showing gearing for giving motion to the gangway.

The gangway A A is pivoted at l? P near its center, and may be moved .vertically through an arc of fifteen or twenty degrees. It is put in motion by turning the capstan C, upon the cylinder of which is fitted a helical fillet interlocking with spur-wheel B upon shaft b, thereby communicating rotary motion to spur-wheels@ c, which interlock with cogged segmentfff of the gangway. The chains g g g and 7L h h, Fig. l, also assist in giving motion to the gangway by being wound on or off the capstan-cylinder at l i, Fig. 3. Upon the main deck of the boat amidships, or at any convenient point, is placed one or more forcepumps, from which pass the metallic pipes M M, Fig. 2, said pipes passing along or within Y Claim.

What I do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination and arrangement within a gangway or movable platform, of the pipe or pipes, substantially as described, adapted to be used in connection with suitable forcepumps, for the purposes set forth.

. JOHN C. LANG.

Witnesses:

A. MOORE, D. P. GowL. 

